Planned Parenthood Condemns DC Abortion Ban and Nunnelee Amendment

Source

Contact

As the nation’s leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate, Planned Parenthood condemns the DC abortion ban, and the amendment by Congressman Alan Nunnelee (R-MS), which would undermine and restrict women’s access to reproductive health care.

Federal law already prohibits federal funds being used for abortion, except in the instances of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is threatened—a restriction Planned Parenthood strongly opposes. The Nunnelee amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill would go even further and impose an unprecedented restriction on women’s ability to purchase private health insurance that includes coverage for abortion.

In contrast, Planned Parenthood applauds the amendment to the spending bill by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), which would eliminate the dangerous provision that bars the District of Columbia from using its own local funds to provide abortion services to its most vulnerable, low-income citizens. Congress should allow the District of Columbia to use its own local funds to pay for medically necessary abortion services for low-income women if it so chooses, just as all 50 states are allowed the same option.

“Planned Parenthood knows firsthand the challenges that women face in accessing affordable health care, and politics should never get in the way of women’s access to health services,” says Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The DC abortion ban and the Nunnelee amendment are simply political moves by opponents of women’s health who have repeatedly demonstrated they will use any opportunity to push their own agenda. We will continue to fight politicians’ interference with a women’s access to comprehensive coverage of reproductive health services.”

As a trusted health care provider to one in five women, Planned Parenthood works to ensure women and their families have access to comprehensive reproductive health care.